The Steelers' 3-0 start doesn't guarantee anything, let's start with that. Beating the Tampa Bay Bucs 38-13 doesn't mean they're suddenly the best team in the NFL.

It sure does feel like it though, doesn't it?

No Steelers team has ever started 3-0 and NOT made the playoffs, and when you look at the ground game on offense, a smothering defense, and add to the mix the potency of a Pro Bowl-caliber, 2-time Super Bowl winning quarterback, you get the best team in the AFC.

A week from today Ben Roethlisberger will be back from suspension, but in the meantime the undefeated Steelers have their first divisional game of the season and an opportunity to put a chokehold on the AFC North when 2-1 Baltimore visits Heinz Field.

And while even a 4-0 start and a win over the Ravens would guarantee the Steelers nothing, it sure would feel good, wouldn't it?

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The connections may be hard to find on the surface between the Steelers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. One team has sold out every home game in 37 years, the other will have its home game blacked out on Sunday. On team is the personification of intimidation, while the other once wore creamsicle-colored uniforms. One franchise has more than a fistful of Super Bowl rings while the other has just one. You get the point: The Bucs are sad and soft, the Steelers are hardcore bad-asses.

But the son of a Hog and a former bad-ass Steelers assistant could be the biggest variable in the equation determining how much success the Steelers' offense sees this weekend.

Cody Grimm, a rookie 7th round pick out of Virginia Tech, will start at free safety for Tampa after Tenard Jackson's suspension for violating the league's substance abuse policy. He's never been the most athletically gifted player, but he's got football smarts - crucial for playing safety in a Tampa 2 defense - and he's Russ Grimm's kid.

That means he'll be tough as nails.

All due respect to Cody Grimm though, as smart and tough as he is, this is not the Sunday he wants to spend becoming acquainted with the job of starting safety in the NFL. A veteran quarterback, even if he is a back-up himself, with a slew of weapons to choose from will look to pick apart the rookie.

If Grimm's his toughness can help him cover Heath Miller and Mike Wallace downfield the Steelers will have a hard time generating big plays. If he plays like a rookie 7th round pick however, he will be exploited by Charlie Batch, and the Steelers will put up some points in a win at Tampa to vault them to just their third 3-0 start in the last 30 years.

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The Steelers found out yesterday that Charlie Batch will lead them into Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Sunday, but more importantly they found out about two huge personnel moves in Flroida that will affect each side of the ball.

The questionable status of center Jeff Faine, regarded as the Bucs' best offensive lineman, should have Casey Hampton licking his chops in his return to the lineup, and the year-long suspension of free safety Tanard Jackson will leave a soft spot in the Tampa 2 that Head Coach Raheem Morris prefers.

It sets up Batch to abuse whomever's trying to cover the deep middle with one of the Steelers' quarterbacks' favorite targets, Heath Miller.

Whether it's running to set up the pass or passing to set up the run against Tampa, the Steelers should be able to put up more points on offense than in their first two games, and we know what the 'D' is capable of, especially with Hampton back in the middle looking to exploit a back-up lineman.

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New offensive coordinator (he replaced Jeff Jagodzinski last September) is Greg Olson. He comes from the vertical passing school Scott Linehan has installed in St. Louis.

Nice link to basic vertical passing concepts here; http://www.scribd.com/doc/23302609/Gunter-Brewer-Vertical-Passing-Concepts Most of the route combinations flood either all three deep zones or one side of the field. The former puts a ton of pressure on the ILB w/deep middle responsibility to get deep in his drops and take away the seams. The latter looks for the voids between the deep and flat zones.

One way to take both away? Play a Cover 3, where the corners drop into deep thirds with the FS. It leaves the hook and curl zones to be covered by the SS and LBs and little room for blitzing unless it's within a zone concept with a D-lineman dropping.

Player to watch: Kellen Winslow in the seams and voids.

Raheem Morris controls the defense and has developed a hybrid Tampa 2 that gives as many 3-4 looks as 4-3 looks. On early, running downs it focuses on aggressiveness: 8 men in the box and man coverage outside with a single deep safety. On passing downs they revert back to flooding the secondary and rushing just four. Finding open receivers in those instances could take a while.

Establishing the run early, regardless of its effectiveness will be the key. Making play-action a weapon will rely on sticking with the run even when there are 8 in the box and knowing when to shift gears and go deep on early downs. 3rd & long will be hard to convert against the Tampa 2, so the offense will hing on 1st down.

Player to watch: 1st half Mendenhall, 2nd half Heath

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There are still plenty of variables out there for the Pittsburgh Steelers as they prepare for a trip to Tampa and a shot at starting their season 3-0. They're on their 4th quarterback already, they've tallied just ONE offensive TD in two games, and haven't played a 2009 playoff team yet.

They've also given up just one touchdown on defense however, and forced 8 turnovers while limiting their opponents to only 4 yards per play.

The easy response when you watch a team down to a QB they just as easily could have cut two weeks ago and reliant on the best defense in the league to go 2-0 is that they're in trou ble if they can't start putting points up on the board.

This team though, is luckily just biding time on offense until Ben Roethlisberger returns from suspension, and even without him could be 3-0 by this time next week.

And no Steelers team, in the franchise's 77 years, has started 3-0 and NOT made the playoffs.

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